Stunning Rihanna Takes On a Near Nude Kendall Jenner

The emphasis was clearly on “costume” at Monday night’s Met Gala, the ultimate see-and-be-seen fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Arts’ Costume Institute. With an invitation requesting “avant-garde” attire, more than a few starlets took it to the absurd.

A few that stretched the imagination were Solange Knowles in black puffer ensemble by Thom Browne, which channeled a soot-covered version of the Michelin man, Kendall Jenner practically nude in La Perla Couture, and Rihanna in a Comme des Garcons dress that defied verbal description but was right on target for the evening.

The gala marks the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibition, which this year honors Comme des Garcons designer Rei Kawakubo.

As Vogue described the evening, “Considering this year’s Met Gala theme — Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between — it’s no surprise that the best beauty looks of the evening centered on extremes, embodying teh collective balance between exaggerated and poetic.”

This star-fueled, designer-driven evening is typically characterized as “fashion’s biggest night out” and “the Oscars of the East Coast.” And, for certain, the coterie of celebrity attendees had paparazzi spinning like whirling dervishes to capture the wealth of red carpet moments.

Not everyone so wholeheartedly embraced the avante-garde theme. Vogue editor and gala co-chair Anna Wintour styled in a sparkly gold, short-sleeved gown dipping to the floor with tulle and feathers, a creation by Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld.  Naomi Campbell, Julianne Moore, Elle Fanning, Serena Williams and Selena Gomez exhibited lady-like evening style for the black-tie affair.

Fashionistas on the scene: Jennifer Lopez in Valentino, Nicki Minaj in custom H&M, P. Diddy,  Naomi Campbell, Edward Enninful, Kylie Jenner, Kerry Washington, Naomi Watts, Stella McCartney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mary J. Bilge in La Perla, Valentino, Julianne Moore, and hundreds more.